Ben Youngs opens up on heart surgery following training ground collapse

Leicester Tigers and England legend, Ben Youngs, has opened up about his heart troubles following a recent training ground experience that left him on the ground and requiring surgery. 

Speaking on his podcast, For the Love of Rugby, Youngs explained:

“We had this open training session at Leicester and I was doing fitness, and basically I collapsed.

“I had to stop and lay down as my heart was pounding away, and the rain was hitting me in the face, and I sort of rolled my head to the side and looked at all these admiring fans – 30 of them [he joked] – that were all packed out in the main stand at Leicester, and I thought: ‘This is it, this is how I’m gonna go’.”

Dan Cole then made a crude joke about Ben dying while doing something he loved.

Moving on from the ‘light-hearted’ remark, Youngs explained that he has Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) which is a type of Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) – a condition where your heart suddenly beats much faster than normal.

The condition was flagged up when Youngs was provided with a heartbeat sensor following his training ground collapse. A Saturday morning treadmill session led to a confirmed diagnosis when the local hospital was notified of his elevated heart rate of 200 beats per minute.

“I’ve basically had a few of these episodes and I’ve had it my whole life”, Youngs added. “It can just kind of spontaneously happen at any stage of your life or career. So I have had it my whole life, unknown to me.”

Youngs and Cole explained that at the start of every World Cup, the players undergo screenings that check heart health and other aspects. Youngs claimed that it flags something up for him every time, pointing out that he has Ventricular ectopics which is a type of arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm. Choosing to correct the issue, Youngs has recently undergone surgery.

“There is a 90% success rate, so I should not suffer now. My ticker should be all good and it won’t suddenly kick in and go mental.”

Detailing the intricacies of the operation, the 34-year-old eluded to the invasive area in which the corrective measures were inserted into his body and the worrying waver he had to sign before receiving the anaesthetic, but fortunately for the recovering Tiger, he’s now fully on the mend and expected to be ready for the new season.